The Skin Cancer Foundation's Sun Smart U for SMART Board

Sun Smart U is a free, interactive skin cancer prevention lesson plan for students in grades six to twelve. The program arms educators with the resources to teach youth how to make sun-safe choices that are vital in preventing skin cancer, the world’s most common cancer. Skin cancer is an important public health issue, as more than 3.5 million skin cancers are diagnosed in over 2.2 million people each year. Over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.

Sun Smart U was designed in accordance with the CDC’s National Health Education Standards for middle school and high school students. Sun Smart U aims to influence youth behavior at a crucial time in their development, when sun safety behaviors can be established for a lifetime. The program teaches kids the importance of adopting a complete sun protection regimen, including seeking shade, wearing protective clothing and using broad spectrum sunscreen.

Specific features of the program include: a True/False activity to gauge students’ existing knowledge of skin cancer; real-life videos relaying the story of a young woman’s struggle with melanoma; an animated segment explaining “Sun Smart Steps;” and a quiz that helps students identify their skin and then matches them with a recognizable celebrity.

Sun Smart U is available free in other formats, too, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Promethean Interactive Whiteboard and iBooks for iPad, iPhone and Mac computers. An Interactive PDF version is also available that can be viewed on Android and Windows mobile devices. Visit www.skincancer.org/education for more information.

Additional materials, including activity sheets, are free at www.skincancer.org/education.